Epitaxial deposition of layers on substrates is of interest in the manufacture of a variety of devices--including, e.g., the manufacture of magnetic domain devices and of magneto-optic devices. Typically, in these devices, deposited layers are magnetic and substrates are nonmagnetic, and substrate and layer materials have compatible garnet structure. Other applications may involve the deposition of nonmagnetic garnet materials or of materials such as, e.g., orthoferrites or magnetoplumbites.
Commercial manufacture of epitaxial-film devices typically involves layer deposition by means of liquid-phase epitaxy processing as disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,405, issued Feb. 5, 1974 to H. J. Levinstein and, in a variant which is particularly suitable for largescale commercial use in the manufacture of magnetic domain device, in the paper by S. L. Blank et al., "The Simultaneous Multiple Dipping of Magnetic Bubble Garnets", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. MAG-16 (1980), pp. 604-609. The cited U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,405, and the cited paper by Blank et al. are incorporated herein by reference.
In the field of magneto-optic devices, particular attention has been paid to bismuth-containing iron garnets; in this respect see, e.g., G. B. Scott et al., "Magnetooptic Properties and Applications of Bismuth Substituted Iron Garnets", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. MAG-12 (1976), pp. 292-311. More recently, the use of bismuth-containing garnet layers has been found advantageous also in magnetic domain devices especially as may be required to operate under adverse conditions such as, e.g., unusually high or unusually low temperatures. Such devices are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,417, issued Dec. 6, 1983 to R. C. LeCraw et al.
Bismuth-containing iron garnets have been grown by liquid-phase-epitaxy deposition from a variety of melts. For an early mention see D. E. Lacklison et al., "Garnets with High Magnetooptic Figures of Merit in the Visible Region", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. MAG-9 (1973), pp. 457-460; for a more recent survey, see W. Toksdorf et al., "The Growth of Bismuth Iron Garnet Layers by Liquid Phase Epitaxy", Thin Solid Films, Vol. 114 (1984), pp. 33-43. Preferred flux compositions including oxides of lead, bismuth, and one or several additional components such as oxides of vanadium, tungsten, molybdenum, or chromium are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,438, issued Oct. 1, 1985, and in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 774,665, filed Sept. 11, 1985.
In view of considerable commercial promise of epitaxial-film devices in general, and of devices based on bismuth-containing magnetic iron garnets in particular, high-yield fabrication methods are desired for epitaxial layer deposition. In this respect, particular attention is due methods which are suitable for simultaneous deposition on a plurality of substrates.